Disappeared News

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

SNA (Tokyo) -- With little fanfare or media attention, the cabinet of Naoto Kan resolved on April 1 to adopt a policy authorizing the National Police Agency and Prosecutor’s Office to track down “harmful gossip” on the internet and expose the authors without having to seek a judicial order or specific permission from political authorities.

The measure comes in the context of the heightened public distrust which followed the devastation of the March 11 tsunami and especially the ensuing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

Apparently, pressed by the USA according to the article, the Japanese government has contemplated putting this Internet censorship in place for some time. The Fukushima disaster presented them with the occasion to implement this policy along with a program under which data on private individuals will be gathered and stored without their knowledge.